Dark Chocolate
by RakkiiHappiiDokkiiShidonii
Summary: In Rima's sepia colored world, romance was a horrible thing that tasted bitter on her tongue. But there is absolutely no way that this guy-girl thing and his odd interest in turtledoves could ever make her think differently about it.


Happii (Un)birthday, Ri-chin! ( n 0 n ) May eighteen-san be kind to you~.

I hope you enjoy this gift from your favorite princess.

* * *

The world was painted in every shade of chocolate and honey. Like an old-fashioned photograph.

The sepia cobble stone street led you to cute little shops filled with lacey dresses and gaudy jewelry, theatres, and all kinds of fancy dining places. In the middle of this town was a beautiful park, in which all the young men usually took their dates to. They sat there, making kissy faces to each other, holding hands and whispering sugary words that nobody else could hear.

It all disgusted Rima greatly. She could very well have gotten sick in the big, fancy fountain that sat nearby.

Rima sniffed and opened her parasol. It was a cloudy day, but Rima just felt like hiding, even if just the tiniest bit. She did not care for romance in the least. She despised women who threw themselves all over the opposite sex. She watched as they drooled over them and batted their fake eyelashes, giggling at something that wasn't even meant to be humerous. Had they no shame?

Rima rolled her eyes. "I am sometimes ashamed to even be part of this humiliating species called 'woman'."

"That's ineresting. Normally women are always griping about men; not their own kind."

Startled heart racing, the tiny girl almost fell off of the bench she was sitting on. She caught herself before she did, adjusting her dress and looking behind her, eyes wide at the stranger with the long, feminine hair. What on earth? Were her eyes working properly or was she just dreaming? "Who- What are you?" She questioned, shock turned to interest with a dash of amusement. Perhaps the stranger could entertain her for a while, until she grew bored of them.

Not offended in the least at being called a "what", the person bowed and introduced themself. "I am Fujisaki Nagihiko."

Rima's eyes widened. "You're _male_?"

Nagihiko laughed lightly at that, and took a seat beside her without asking for permission, ignoring the glare she gave him as he did so. "I get that a lot."

"Why on earth is your hair so long? Don't you get funny looks from people a lot?" Rima asked, innocently curious. She leaned towards Nagihiko, suddenly wanting to touch it really badly. It looked so soft.

Nagihiko blushed slightly at their closing distance and scooted over a bit, which apparently was sign enough to make Rima sit up striaght again. "Well," Nagihiko seemed to be searching for an answer to Rima's inquiry. Rima cocked an eyebrow in suspicion. Why was it such a tough question? After a few seconds, he finally answered. "It is mandatory for the kind of thing my family does. I don't mind it, really."

"Your parents must be really odd, then." Rima said.

Nagihiko sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You have no idea. So," He began, changing the conversation with a syrupy smile. Was that guy sparkling? "What is _your_ name, milady?"

"That is private information, Sir Creepo."

"My, how luck am I to have discovered such a sweet young lady such as yourself."

Rima smiled innocently. "I get that a lot." She looked away from him, seemingly interested in a nearby bird that was pecking at the caramel coated grass. "Mashiro Rima." She said quietly.

Nagihiko smiled, even though his company could not see it. "It's nice to meet you..." He leaned forward to look at the bird as well. He smirked ever so slightly. "...my little turtledove."

Rima's head snapped to face him, her golden curls flying wildly. "What did you just call me?" She fumed, her round cheeks flushed, annoyed honey orbs narrowed, daring him to repeat himself. How dare he speak to her so casually? She was more angry about his boldness than his words, for she thought the nickname was kind of cute, although she would never admit that out loud.

Nagihiko stood up suddenly, to Rima's surprise, and bowed deeply. "I apologize if I have offended you, milady. I only meant to tease you a bit."

Rima could not help but let a tiny smile escape at that. Normally whenever she courted a man and he teased her, they got scared and ran off when she reacted in such a way. Not that she was going to court this man, obviously, but Nagihiko was like a breath of fresh air. She suddenly felt very relaxed. "It is fine." She threw her smile away quickly, turning away again to watch the turtledove search fruitlessly for some lunch. She returned her attention once again to Nagihiko upon noticing his hand stretched out in front of her, apparently waiting for her to entertwine her smaller one into it. She raised her eyebrows in an inquisitive manner. Nagihiko's dark eyes sparkled.

"Would you please walk with me, milady? I would love to chat with you more, if you don't mind." He asked in a sweet voice that made Rima's hands feel a little sweaty inside their silken gloves.

Rima could tell it was going to be a long day. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't be _too_ bothersome." Rima said, standing up and pushing Nagihiko's hand away. "No funny business, though." She glared. "Or else I will somehow teach that bird to attack you on my command."

Nagihiko nodded seriously, although his eyes showed amusement. "Of course, turtledove."

Yes. Rima was not ever going to admit that she liked that nickname quite a lot.

A warm summer breeze played with the coffee colored leaves on the trees, as well as carried the lovely scent of flowers around the area. Rima and her new acquaintance strolled side-by-side for almost an hour, chatting about petty things. Rima should not have been having fun, but she was. But Rima did her best to disguise any signs of enjoyment from this guy, only giving a ghost of a smile every now and then, or hiding threatening laughter in a fake cough or two. She began to like Nagihiko in a friendly way, and she wanted it to stay that way.

She was very curious about him, though. Too curious for her liking. She could not help but be fascinated by his appearance: His abnormally long hair, his big, brown eyes that made her think of dark chocolate, his laughter that sounded like bells. He was far too pretty to be a guy. But even so, he still somehow managed to look handsome.

"So, what do your parents do?" Nagihiko asked, awakening Rima from her daydreaming.

Rima blushed slightly and inwardly scolded herself. Clearing her throat in a ladylike way, she answered casually. "My parents run the toy store 'Clown Drop'. They really enjoy it. They are very creative people." Rima said, smiling freely at last, although it was not for Nagihiko. She was just so proud of her parents. Rima frowned. Although she wished they worked together better.

"Oh, really?" Naigihko said thoughtfully. "I would have thought they were royalty, since you look like a beautiful princess." Rima then bonked Nagihiko on the head with her parasol and began to speed up, not wanting him to see her face, which was extremely hot all of a sudden. "Rima, wait for me!"  
Rima sighed quietly and rolled her eyes. She slowed down a bit, but did not stop. Suddenly, she heard a loud splash. Spinning around, Rima saw that Nagihko had fallen into the lake.

Was somebody playing a sick joke on her or something? Rima pushed away the memories of cliche scenes she had found in those cheesey romance novels she had wasted time reading. "Nagihiko!" Rima lifted her beige skirts up as not to trip, and ran over to where Nagihiko fell in, feeling slightly scared. What if he couldn't swim? Was he okay? Once she reached the edge, she crouched down and stretched her hand out to Nagihiko, who was apparently having great difficulties. "Nagihiko! Grab my hand!" Rima cried. She hated how she sounded so childish when she raised her voice.  
Nagihiko wrapped his damp hand around Rima's, and for some reason, he grinned. Before she knew it, Rima had been pulled into the lake.

"Oh, dear," Nagihiko began, holding onto Rima's waist securely so she wouldn't drown. Rima glared at him as she gulped for air. "It looks like we have _fallen_ for each other."

And in response to that wonderful comment, Rima promply thumped Nagihiko on his girly head with her parasol, the item which Nagihiko had begun to see as a weapon.

Rima then whacked Nagihiko's shoulder with a tiny fist, her blusing cheeks wet with not only water, but furious tears as well. "What sort of twisted sense of humor do you possess? To think I was actually worried about you!" Rima did her best to calm herself and breathe normally, but her mixed emotions were making her dizzy and she could not think straight. But in a mere moment, her breathing and thought process stopped all together, for Nagihiko had taken her hand and gave it a gentle peck with his lips, an action Rima had done to her multiple times in the past, but this time, for some unfathomable reason, was completely different.

Before Rima could say or do anything, the little bird from earlier swooped down and landed right on top of Nagihiko's head. It was an amusing sight, and it made Rima giggle. "I guess it likes you." Rima said, smiling a tiny smile.

"That is too bad for it, then." Said Nagihiko, smiling as well. "There is a different turtledove that catches my eye."

Perhaps, thought Rima, as her parasol and the top of Nagihiko's head made contact once more, I could learn to like the idea of romance.


End file.
